THE BULLETIN  February 2011
78 cars
The moto ring
column
In a new motoring column for The Bulletin, Emma Beddington
takes the new Fiat 500 Twin Air for a spin and discovers old-school
style with eco credentials
R
emakes of classics are usually
rubbish, aren’t they? The minute
we hear there’s one in the offing,
we’re already sharpening our critical fac-
ulties and preparing for disappointment.
The Italian Job, The Thomas Crowne
Affair, Psycho, even KitKats: updates and
remakes usually squander the magic of
the original and replace it with some-
thing soulless and hollow. It’s usually
the same with cars. The new VW Beetle
looks like an overgrown child’s toy; the
new Mini is clunky and plastic. Worst
of all is the recent remake of the gor-
geous Citroën DS, squandering a mythic
heritage to create a cookie cutter family
saloon. Sacrilege.
The Fiat 500 isn’t one of those remakes
though, I promise. It’s a great car. You’ll
have seen plenty of them: first released
in 2007, the 500 was an instant hit,
with over 500,000 sold in Europe in
three years. There are two on my street
alone, both of which I mistakenly tried
to get into during my test drive of the
new 2011 Twin Air model. The origi-
nal Cinquecento – so small I once saw
four men in Florence pick one up and
deposit it on the pavement so they could
take its parking space – truly deserved
to be called ‘a design classic’. The
remake, although it doesn’t quite have

the diminutive chutzpah of the 1960s
Bambino, is a stylish, practical homage
to the original that thoughtfully accom-
modates people who are more than five
feet tall. It beats the ersatz Beetle and
Mini hands down on looks and sensitive
adaption: it’s curvy without looking like
it’s escaped from a children’s television
programme and the dash is gorgeously
retro without falling into parody. It’s a
nice drive, it’s conveniently small (but
not so small that you feel vulnerable) and
above all, it’s a dream to park.
OK, so it wasn’t the smoothest ride
of my life. The short wheelbase makes
for some hair-raising, theme park ride
bounces over speed bumps and cobbles.
Then there’s the engine: it roars exhila-
ratingly like a ride-on lawnmower gone
wild, but it’s all talk and not much accel-
eration. I don’t care though: I love it.
Pros? Look and feel, above all. This
is a very accomplished update – how
often do you love a remake as much
as the original? There are no bells and
whistles, no clunky modernisation, just
a cute, easy to drive city runaround.
The steering and turning radius make
it a joy to park, and if you’d told me
before I tested this car that I’d ever feel
joy parking any vehicle in Brussels, I’d
have laughed in your face. As it is, I was
cruising the streets looking for smaller
and smaller spaces to squeeze into and
impress my children. It’s also packed
with safety features and has impeccably
low emission rates.
Cons? Despite all Fiat’s assurances
and the new two cylinder engine, the
500 feels a little underpowered. The
Twin Air technology might be lean and
green, but I’d like something a little
more responsive. The acceleration is
flabby and the gears are weirdly long for
a little car. It’s fine on the motorway,
once it gets into its stride, but it strug-
gled to get me out of trouble with the
hills, the cheeky overtaking and lane
changes that characterise Brussels driv-
ing. It’s my only real criticism, but it’s a
big one.
Euromut welcomes
79 you to Belgium
Who’s this car for? City
dwellers, parking-phobes, design lovers.
But I must also say this: when I let my
ex-husband have a drive, for balance,
he revved the engine, showed me how
to make the windscreen wipers stop,
admired the interior, then gave his
verdict.
“Girl’s car”.
So also, possibly, girls.
The Colruyt test? I was It is essential that you receive the best health
care advice and customer service. We offer
pleasantly surprised by the seemingly solutions for every request and facilitate your
tiny boot, which managed to accommo- administration. More than 5,500 expats choose
date a full shop at Belgium’s best loved Euromut every year. They can’t be wrong!
discount store – a 12 pack of kitchen Contact the Business Customer Care
roll, a mop, two 5-litre bottles of bleach by mail: expats@euromut.be
and a case of cheap wine included. by phone: +32 2 44 44 700
www.euromut.be/expats
Kerb appeal? The 500 is
already everywhere in Brussels and the
2011 model has no particular distin-
guishing features, so my borrowed baby
bulletin-2011.indd 1 17-01-2011 11:35:39
didn’t get much kerbside love. That said,
the 500 seems to inspire kindly interac-
tion with other road users: I got surpris-
Learning French
ingly compassionate treatment on tricky
junctions.
is “nothing to
whip a cat about”
What do the kids think?
T (aged 8): “It’s good, I like it, but the bad
point is the speed. It’s slow. But maybe
you’re slow, maman. And it should have FRENCH COURSES
doors in the back.” & 36 OTHER LANGUAGES
Me: “But then it wouldn’t be so small!
(Dutch - German - Spanish - ...)
Do you think it’s a girl’s car?”
T: “No. It’s not pink.” s 3-MONTH PROGRAMMES
Day & evening classes
The verdict: Retro style in a s PRIVATE LESSONS
compact package. Not fast or furious, s INTENSIVE TRAINING
but heaps of fun.
>> Contact us:
CLL Brussels City +32 2 280 22 28
 The Fiat 500 Twin Air (900 CLL Brussels Woluwe +32 2 771 13 20
cl) is available from September 2011,
priced from €13,170 to €17,110 for
Learn more than just
the top of the range diesel model. a language!
Every car in the range is eligible for
the government 15 percent eco-rebate,
thanks to the 95 g/km CO2 Twin Air cll.be
engine technology.